Systems and methods of adjusting operating parameters of a vehicle based on vehicle duty cycles

ABSTRACT

A method includes: receiving, by a controller of a vehicle, operation data indicative of a duty cycle for the vehicle, wherein the duty cycle is a substantially repeatable set of vehicle or vehicle component operations for a particular event or for a predefined time period; identifying, by the controller, a desired vehicle duty cycle from a population of vehicle duty cycles based on the operation data indicative of the duty cycle for the vehicle and on a desired operating parameter of the vehicle; receiving, by the controller, a set of trim parameters that are electronic operational parameters associated with the desired vehicle duty cycle; and controlling, by the controller, one or more operating points of the vehicle based on the set of trim parameters.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/080,531, filed Aug. 28, 2018, entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS OFADJUSTING OPERATING PARAMETERS OF A VEHICLE BASED ON VEHICLE DUTYCYCLES,” which is a U.S. national stage filing of PCT/US2017/023190,filed Mar. 20, 2017, entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF ADJUSTINGOPERATING PARAMETERS OF A VEHICLE BASED ON VEHICLE DUTY CYCLES,” whichclaims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.62/313,469, filed Mar. 25, 2016, entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS OFADJUSTING OPERATING PARAMETERS OF A VEHICLE BASED ON VEHICLE DUTYCYCLES,” all of which are incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to control strategies for adjustingvehicle operating parameters.

BACKGROUND

In a vehicle, the powertrain or powertrain system refers to thecomponents that provide the power to propel the vehicle. Thesecomponents include the engine, transmission, drive/propeller shaft,differentials, and final drive. In operation and for an internalcombustion engine, the engine combusts a fuel to generate mechanicalpower in the form of a rotating a crankshaft. The transmission receivesthe rotating crankshaft and manipulates the engine speed (i.e., therotation of the crankshaft) to control a rotation speed of thedrive/propeller shaft, which is also coupled to the transmission. Therotating drive shaft is received by a differential, which transmits therotational power to a final drive (e.g., wheels) to effect a movement ofthe vehicle. In an automobile, the differential enables the wheels, on ashared axle, to rotate at different speeds (e.g., during a turn, theouter wheel spins faster relative to the inner wheel to allow thevehicle to maintain its speed and line of travel).

Typically, many vehicular control systems utilize one or more operatingparameters that affect or control certain aspects of vehicularoperation. For example, an upper droop setting may define how much avehicle is allowed to decrease speed relative to a cruise control setspeed during an uphill excursion. However, these operating parametersare typically set by default. As such, various operating parametersettings may not provide the desired performance for many operators(e.g., to minimize fuel consumption).

SUMMARY

One embodiment relates to an apparatus. The apparatus includes a trimparameter circuit structured to receive a set of default trim parametersintended to control one or more operating points of a vehicle, and avehicle duty cycle circuit operatively coupled to the trim parametercircuit. According to one embodiment, the vehicle duty circuit isstructured to: receive operation data indicative of a duty cycle for thevehicle; determine one or more vehicle duty cycles for the vehicle basedon the operation data; compare the determined one or more vehicle dutycycles to a population of vehicle duty cycles; identify a desiredvehicle duty cycle from the population of vehicle duty cycles for eachof the one or more identified vehicle duty cycles based on a desiredoperating parameter of the vehicle; receive a set of trim parametersassociated with each desired vehicle duty cycle; and selectively applythe set of trim parameters with the vehicle to control the one or moreoperating points of the vehicle in accordance with the desired operatingparameter of the vehicle.

Another embodiment relates to method. The method includes receiving, bya controller of an engine of a vehicle, operation data indicative of aduty cycle for the vehicle; determining, by the controller, one or morevehicle duty cycles for the vehicle based on the operation data;comparing, by the controller, the determined one or more vehicle dutycycles to a population of vehicle duty cycles; identifying, by thecontroller, a desired vehicle duty cycle from the population of vehicleduty cycles for each of the one or more determined vehicle duty cyclesbased on a desired operating parameter of the vehicle; receiving, by thecontroller, a set of trim parameters associated with each desiredvehicle duty cycle; and selectively applying, by the controller, the setof trim parameters with the vehicle to control the one or more operatingpoints of the vehicle in accordance with the desired operating parameterof the vehicle.

Yet another embodiment relates to a vehicle. The vehicle includes anengine, and a controller operatively coupled to the engine. According toone embodiment, the controller is structured to: receive operation dataindicative of a duty cycle for the vehicle; determine one or morevehicle duty cycles for the vehicle based on the operation data; comparethe determined one or more vehicle duty cycles to a population ofvehicle duty cycles; identify a desired vehicle duty cycle from thepopulation of vehicle duty cycles for each of the one or more determinedvehicle duty cycles based on a desired operating parameter of thevehicle; receive a set of trim parameters associated with each desiredvehicle duty cycle; and selectively apply the set of trim parameterswith the vehicle to control the one or more operating points of thevehicle in accordance with the desired operating parameter of thevehicle.

These and other features, together with the organization and manner ofoperation thereof, will become apparent from the following detaileddescription when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an intelligent transportation system,according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a controller of the vehicle of FIG. 1 ,according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a graph of vehicle duty cycles for a variety of vehicles,according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a graph of multiple representative duty cycles for a pluralityof individual vehicle duty cycles, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a graph of multiple vehicle duty cycles, according to anexample embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a graph of trim parameters that affect or most affect fuelconsumption for the duty cycles of FIG. 5 , according to an exampleembodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of a method of adjusting one or more trimparameters of a vehicle, according to an example embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF VARIOUS EMBODIMENTS

For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of thedisclosure, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated inthe drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. Itwill nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of thedisclosure is thereby intended, any alterations and furthermodifications in the illustrated embodiments, and any furtherapplications of the principles of the disclosure as illustrated thereinas would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which thedisclosure relates are contemplated herein.

Referring to the Figures generally, the various embodiments disclosedherein relate to systems, methods, and apparatuses structured toselectively adjust electronic control parameters for a vehicle based ona determined vehicle duty cycle for the vehicle compared to a populationof vehicle duty cycles, and selectively adjusting the electronic controlparameters to coincide with the control parameters associated with anidentified desired vehicle duty cycle from the population of vehicleduty cycles. Currently, various electronic control parameters areprovided as default operating parameters for a vehicle (e.g., cruisecontrol droop settings, a road speed governor setting, etc.). In someinstances, a technician (and in certain configurations, a user) mayadjust one or more of these default electronic control parameters. Forexample, the technician may alter the upper droop setting to promotefuel economy by allowing the vehicle to decrease speed by three (3)miles-per-hour relative to the cruise control set speed. Alternatively,the technician may set the upper droop setting to zero (0) MPH topromote performance (i.e., no decrease in speed in an uphill situation).However, such manipulations may require an operator of the vehicle tovisit a technician, which takes time and may be costly, and may furtherfail to or substantially fail to account for how the particular operatoroperates the vehicle. In this regard, the adjustments of the electronicdefault control parameters may be independent of the actual usage of thevehicle, which, in turn, may limit the effectiveness of suchadjustments.

According to the present disclosure, a controller may interpret dataregarding operation of the vehicle to determine a duty cycle(s) of thevehicle. Responsive to the determination of the duty cycle(s), thecontroller may receive a desired characteristic for one or moreoperating parameters of the vehicle (e.g., minimize fuel consumption,maximize performance (e.g., power), minimize the number of fuelingstops, etc.) (referred to as the desired operating parameter). Based onthe desired operating parameter, the controller may identify duty cyclesfrom a population of vehicle duty cycles (e.g., from a fleet ofvehicles) that correspond or substantially correspond with the desiredoperating parameter (e.g., duty cycles that minimize fuel consumption).After identification, the controller may request and receive electroniccontrol parameter information indicative of the control parametersassociated with the identified desired vehicle duty cycle(s). Thecontroller may then selectively and automatically adjust the controlparameters of the vehicle to coincide or substantially coincide with thereceived control parameters. Beneficially, the vehicle may then mimic orpotentially mimic performance of the vehicle with a desired duty cycle.Accordingly, the operator may realize performance of their vehicle thatmay be closer to their desired operating parameters, such as improvingfuel economy. Further, such actions may be accomplished without theoperator needing to visit a technician to implement the adjustments tothe electronic control parameters. In this regard, the controllerfacilitates automatic electronic parameter adjustment in contrast to anormal or routine manner and, further, improves operation of the vehicleresponsive to the specific operating characteristics of the vehicle.These and other features and benefits of the present disclosure aredescribed more fully herein below.

As used herein, the term “vehicle duty cycle” or “duty cycle” refers todata, values, or information indicative of how the specific vehicle isbeing utilized for a particular application. In particular, a “dutycycle” refers to a repeatable set of vehicle operations for a particularevent or for a predefined time period. For example, a “duty cycle” mayrefer to values indicative of a vehicle speed for a given time period.In another example, a “duty cycle” may refer to values indicative of anaerodynamic load on the vehicle for a given time period. In yet anotherexample, a “duty cycle” may refer to values indicative of a vehiclespeed and an elevation of a vehicle for a given time period. In thisregard and compared to a vehicle drive cycle, which is typically limitedto time versus speed information, the term “duty cycle” as used hereinis meant to be broadly interpreted and inclusive of vehicle drive cyclesamong other quantifiable metrics. Beneficially and based on theforegoing, the “duty cycle” may be representative of how a vehicle mayoperate in a particular setting, circumstance, and/or environment (e.g.,a seventy-file mile stretch of a relatively flat freeway environment,etc.). In this regard, the vehicle duty cycle may vary greatly based onthe vehicle (e.g., a two-door sedan vehicle versus a concrete mixertruck versus a refuse truck versus a semi-tractor trailer vehicle,etc.). Accordingly and as described herein, the present disclosure mayutilize systems and methods to identify pertinent duty cycles for aparticular vehicle.

It should be understood that while the present disclosure describes theduty cycle on a per unit time basis, this description is not meant to belimiting. The present disclosure contemplates other metrics that may beused to define the duty cycle. These metrics may include, but are notlimited to, basing the duty cycle on distance, fuel consumption, etc. Inthis regard, a different basis for the duty cycle may be used based onthe target application. Thus, the duty cycle basis is meant to bebroadly interpreted under the present disclosure.

It should be understood that while the “duty cycle” is describedprimarily herein in regard to the vehicle, this designation is not meantto be limiting. Rather, the duty cycle may be identified on a componentlevel as well. For example, a component duty cycle may be the enginespeed for a given time period. As another example, a component dutycycle may be the number of shift events for a transmission for a giventime period. As still another example, a component duty cycle may bevalues indicative of a temperature (e.g., maximum, average, etc.) in anexhaust aftertreatment system for a given time period (e.g., to trackregeneration events, etc.). In yet another example, a component dutycycle may be operation data for a combination of individual componentsof a vehicle for a given time period (e.g., engine speed and aerodynamicload for a given time period, etc.). Thus and as used herein, the term“duty cycle” is meant to be broadly interpreted.

As also used herein, the terms “electronic control parameters,”“operating parameters,” and “trim parameters” are used interchangeablyand refer to electronic operational settings for a vehicle or componentsthereof that may be adjustable by an operator or a technician of thevehicle. In comparison, a “calibration parameter” or “calibrationsetting” is typically a setting that is non-adjustable by either theoperator or a technician of the vehicle. An example of a calibrationparameter is an allowable engine temperature for a given time periodbefore causing at least one or both of shutting the engine down andtriggering an indicator light. Another example of a calibrationparameter may include an operating condition prescribed by a local,state, or federal mandate (e.g., an acceptable emissions level beforecausing an engine derate condition, etc.). In comparison, anon-exhaustive list of trim parameters includes: various parametersrelating to cruise control (e.g., an upper droop amount, a lower droopamount, etc.); a road speed governor limit (i.e., the maximum allowableroad speed of the vehicle); an idle shut down parameter (e.g., an amountof time before an idle engine shuts down, etc.); a load based speedcontrol parameter (e.g., a predefined engine speed for certain operatingconditions, such as load, etc.); a gear down protection parameter for alight load vehicle speed and a heavy load vehicle speed (e.g., maintainthe vehicle in the light load or heavy load vehicle speed to promoteincreased fuel economy by minimizing downshifts to promote operation ofthe vehicle in a top gear, etc.); and a vehicle acceleration managementfeature (e.g., to limit acceleration in certain conditions to improvefuel economy, etc.). Of course, the present disclosure contemplatesvarious other trim parameters that may be applicable in certain vehicleand engine systems.

Referring now to FIG. 1 , a schematic diagram of an intelligenttransportation system (ITS) 50 is shown according to one embodiment. TheITS 50 is structured to provide an environment that facilitates andallows the exchange of information or data (e.g., communications, etc.)between a vehicle, such as vehicle 100, and one or more other componentsor sources. In this regard and for example, the ITS 50 may includetelematics systems that facilitate the acquisition and transmission ofdata acquired regarding the operation of the vehicle 100. As shown andgenerally speaking, the ITS 50 includes one or more vehicles, with arepresentative vehicle shown as vehicle 100, communicably coupled via anetwork 51 to a vehicle tracking and analytics center 60.

The network 51 may be any type of communication protocol thatfacilitates the exchange of information between and among the vehicle100 and the vehicle tracking and analytics center 60. In this regard,the network 51 may communicably couple the vehicle 100 with the vehicletracking and analytics center 60. In one embodiment, the network 51 maybe configured as a wireless network. In this regard, the vehicle 100 maywirelessly transmit and receive data from the vehicle tracking andanalytics center 60. The wireless network may be any type of wirelessnetwork, such as Wi-Fi, WiMax, Geographical Information System (GIS),Internet, Radio, Bluetooth, Zigbee, satellite, radio, Cellular, GlobalSystem for Mobile Communications (GSM), General Packet Radio Service(GPRS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), light signaling, etc. In an alternateembodiment, the network 51 may be configured as a wired network or acombination of wired and wireless protocol. For example, the controller150 and/or telematics unit 130 of the vehicle 100 may electrically,communicably, and/or operatively couple via a communication cable, suchas a fiber optic cable, to the network 51 to selectively transmit andreceive data wirelessly to and from the vehicle tracking and analyticscenter 60.

The vehicle tracking and analytics center 60 may be any remote datacollection and analytics center relative to the vehicle 100. As shown,the vehicle tracking and analytics center 60 may include a processor 61and a memory device 62, where the memory device 62 may include a vehicleduty cycle database 63. The processor 61 may be structured toselectively execute instructions, commands, and the like stored by thememory device 62. Accordingly, the processor 61 may include one or moreprocessors that may or may not be geographically dispersed, such thatthe vehicle tracking and analytics center 60 may include multipledifferent geographic locations. As such, the processor 61 may beimplemented as a general-purpose processor, an application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), one or more field programmable gate arrays(FPGAs), a digital signal processor (DSP), a group of processingcomponents like mentioned above, or any other suitable electronicprocessing components. The one or more memory devices 62 (e.g., NVRAM,RAM, ROM, Flash Memory, hard disk storage, etc.) may store data and/orcomputer code for facilitating the various processes described herein.Accordingly, the one or more memory devices 62 may be or includetangible, non-transient volatile memory or non-volatile memory.

In operation and as alluded to above, the vehicle tracking and analyticscenter 60 may be structured as multiple remote locations. The remotelocations may serve as a call center or as a fleet management center toinstruct, command, and/or otherwise communicate with one or more of thevehicles 100. Accordingly, multiple attendants or managers maycommunicate via the vehicle tracking and analytics center 60 through thenetwork 51 with one or more designated or identified vehicles 100 to,e.g., inform an operator of the vehicle 100 of an upcoming condition(e.g., a change in freight loading/unloading location, an upcomingaccident to use an alternate route, etc.).

In another embodiment, the vehicle tracking and analytics center 60 maybe structured as a subscription service useable with the telematics unit130. Accordingly, operators of one or more vehicles 100 may choose toenroll with the service to receive pertinent updates, such as changes infreight loading/unloading locations. Thus, the vehicle tracking andanalytics center 60 is meant to be broadly interrupted herein to referto any remote location that may communicate with the vehicle 100.

As mentioned above, the memory 62 may include a vehicle duty cycledatabase 63. The vehicle duty cycle database 63 may store, classify,categorize, and/or otherwise serve as a repository for vehicle dutycycles associated with a plurality of a vehicles and any informationassociated with each vehicle duty cycle, such as corresponding trimparameters and operating characteristics associated with each duty cycle(e.g., a fuel consumption rate, an emissions characteristic, enginetemperatures/pressures, oil temperatures/pressures, engine speed, enginetorque, etc.). Accordingly, the vehicle tracking and analytics center 60may selectively provide information relating to one or more storedvehicle duty cycles responsive to receiving requests for same.

As shown in FIG. 1 , multiple vehicles 100 may be communicably coupledover the network 51 to the vehicle tracking and analytics center 60.Accordingly, while only a single example vehicle is described herein,this description is not meant to be limiting.

As such, referring now to the vehicle 100 of FIG. 1 , the vehicle 100 iscommunicably coupled to the vehicle tracking and analytics center 60 viathe network 51. The vehicle 100 may be an on-road or an off-road vehicleincluding, but not limited to, line-haul trucks, mid-range trucks (e.g.,pick-up truck), cars (e.g., sedans, coupes, etc.), motorcycles, tanks,airplanes, and any other type of vehicle that may communicate over anetwork, such as network 51, with one or more remote components, such asthe vehicle tracking and analytics center 60. The vehicle 100 may bepowered by any type of engine system. For example, the vehicle 100 maybe any variation of a hybrid vehicle, a full electric vehicle, and/or aninternal combustion engine powered vehicle as shown. Before delving intothe particulars of the ITS 50 in regard to the vehicle 100, the variouscomponents of the vehicle 100 may be described as follows. The vehicle100 is shown to generally include a powertrain system 110, an exhaustaftertreatment system 120, a telematics unit 130, an operatorinput/output device 140, and a controller 150, where the controller 150is communicably coupled to each of the aforementioned components. Ofcourse, this depiction is not meant to be limiting as the vehicle 100may include any of a variety of other components, such as anelectrically driven/controlled air compressor, an electricallydriven/controlled engine cooling fan, an electrically driven/controlledheating venting and air conditioning system, an alternator, an energystorage device, etc., where the controllability may stem from thecontroller 150.

The powertrain system 110 facilitates power transfer from an engine 101to power and/or propel the vehicle 100. The powertrain system 110includes the engine 101 operably coupled to a transmission 102 that isoperatively coupled to a drive shaft 103, which is operatively coupledto a differential 104, where the differential 104 transfers power outputfrom the engine 101 to the final drive 105 (shown as wheels) to propelthe vehicle 100. As a brief overview, the engine 101 receives a chemicalenergy input (e.g., a fuel such as gasoline, diesel, etc.) and combuststhe fuel to generate mechanical energy, in the form of a rotatingcrankshaft. As a result of the power output from the engine 101, thetransmission 102 may manipulate the speed of the rotating input shaft(e.g., the crankshaft) to effect a desired speed of the drive shaft 103.The rotating drive shaft 103 is received by a differential 104, whichprovides the rotation energy of the drive shaft 103 to the final drive105. The final drive 105 then propels or moves the vehicle 100.

The engine 101 may be structured as any internal combustion engine(e.g., compression-ignition, spark-ignition, etc.), such that it can bepowered by any fuel type (e.g., diesel, ethanol, gasoline, natural gas,propane, hydrogen, etc.). Similarly, the transmission 102 may bestructured as any type of transmission, such as a continuous variabletransmission, a manual transmission, an automatic transmission, anautomatic-manual transmission, a dual clutch transmission, etc.Accordingly, as transmissions vary from geared to continuousconfigurations (e.g., continuous variable transmission), thetransmission can include a variety of settings (gears, for a gearedtransmission) that affect different output speeds based on the enginespeed. Like the engine 101 and the transmission 102, the drive shaft103, differential 104, and final drive 105 may be structured in anyconfiguration dependent on the application (e.g., the final drive 105 isstructured as wheels in an automotive application and a propeller in anairplane application). Further, the drive shaft 103 may be structured asa one-piece, two-piece, and a slip-in-tube driveshaft based on theapplication.

As also shown, the vehicle 100 includes an exhaust aftertreatment system120 in fluid communication with the engine 101. The exhaustaftertreatment system 120 may receive exhaust gas from the combustionprocess in the engine 101 and transform/reduce the emissions from theengine 101 to less environmentally harmful emissions (e.g., reduce theNOx amount, reduce the emitted particulate matter amount, etc.). Theexhaust aftertreatment system 120 may include any component used toreduce diesel exhaust emissions, such as a selective catalytic reductioncatalyst, a diesel oxidation catalyst, a diesel particulate filter, adiesel exhaust fluid doser with a supply of diesel exhaust fluid, and aplurality of sensors for monitoring the system 120 (e.g., a NOx sensor,a temperature sensor, a particulate matter sensor, etc.). It should beunderstood that other embodiments may exclude an exhaust aftertreatmentsystem and/or include different, less than, and/or additional componentsthan that listed above. All such variations are intended to fall withinthe spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

The vehicle 100 is also shown to include a telematics unit 130. Thetelematics unit 130 may be structured as any type of telematics controlunit. Accordingly, the telematics unit 130 may include, but is notlimited to, a location positioning system (e.g., global positioningsystem, etc.) to track the location of the vehicle (e.g., latitude andlongitude data, elevation data, etc.), one or more memory devices forstoring the tracked data, one or more electronic processing units forprocessing the tracked data, and a communications interface forfacilitating the exchange of data between the telematics unit 130 andone or more remote devices (e.g., a provider/manufacturer of thetelematics device, etc.). In this regard, the communications interfacemay be configured as any type of mobile communications interface orprotocol including, but not limited to, Wi-Fi, WiMax, Internet, Radio,Bluetooth, Zigbee, satellite, radio, Cellular, GSM, GPRS, LTE, and thelike. The telematics unit 130 may also include a communicationsinterface for communicating with the controller 150 of the vehicle 100.The communication interface for communicating with the controller 150may include any type and number of wired and wireless protocols (e.g.,any standard under IEEE 802, etc.). For example, a wired connection mayinclude a serial cable, a fiber optic cable, an SAE J1939 bus, a CAT5cable, or any other form of wired connection. In comparison, a wirelessconnection may include the Internet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, cellular,radio, etc. In one embodiment, a controller area network (CAN) busincluding any number of wired and wireless connections provides theexchange of signals, information, and/or data between the controller 150and the telematics unit 130. In other embodiments, a local area network(LAN), a wide area network (WAN), or an external computer (for example,through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider) may provide,facilitate, and support communication between the telematics unit 130and the controller 150. In still another embodiment, the communicationbetween the telematics unit 130 and the controller 150 is via theunified diagnostic services (UDS) protocol. All such variations areintended to fall within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

The operator input/output device 140 enables an operator of the vehicleto communicate with the vehicle 100 and the controller 150. For example,the operator input/output device 140 may include, but is not limited, aninteractive display (e.g., a touchscreen, etc.), an accelerator pedal, aclutch pedal, a shifter for the transmission 102, a cruise control inputsetting, etc. Via the operator input/output device 140, the operator candesignate preferred characteristics of one or more desired operatingparameters (e.g., an upper cruise control droop amount, etc.).

As shown in FIG. 1 , the controller 150 is communicably and operativelycoupled to the powertrain system 110, the exhaust aftertreatment system120, the telematics unit 130, and the operator input/output device 140.Communication between and among the components may be via any number ofwired or wireless connections. For example, a wired connection mayinclude a serial cable, a fiber optic cable, a CAT5 cable, or any otherform of wired connection. In comparison, a wireless connection mayinclude the Internet, Wi-Fi, cellular, radio, etc. In one embodiment, aCAN bus provides the exchange of signals, information, and/or data. TheCAN bus includes any number of wired and wireless connections. Becausethe controller 150 is communicably coupled to the systems and componentsin the vehicle 100 of FIG. 1 , the controller 150 is structured toreceive data (e.g., instructions, commands, signals, values, etc.) fromone or more of the components shown in FIG. 1 .

Because the components of FIG. 1 are shown to be embodied in a vehicle100, the controller 150 may be structured as an electronic controlmodule (ECM). The ECM may include a transmission control unit and anyother control unit included in a vehicle (e.g., exhaust aftertreatmentcontrol unit, engine control module, powertrain control module, etc.).The function and structure of the controller 150 are shown described ingreater detail in FIG. 2 .

Accordingly, referring now to FIG. 2 , the function and structure of thecontroller 150 are shown according to one example embodiment. Thecontroller 150 is shown to include a processing circuit 201 including aprocessor 202 and a memory 203. The processor 202 may be implemented asa general-purpose processor, an application specific integrated circuit(ASIC), one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), a digitalsignal processor (DSP), a group of processing components, or othersuitable electronic processing components. The one or more memorydevices 203 (e.g., NVRAM, RAM, ROM, Flash Memory, hard disk storage,etc.) may store data and/or computer code for facilitating the variousprocesses described herein. Thus, the one or more memory devices 203 maybe communicably connected to the controller 150 and provide computercode or instructions to the controller 150 for executing the processesdescribed in regard to the controller 150 herein. Moreover, the one ormore memory devices 203 may be or include tangible, non-transientvolatile memory or non-volatile memory. Accordingly, the one or morememory devices 203 may include database components, object codecomponents, script components, or any other type of informationstructure for supporting the various activities and informationstructures described herein.

The memory 203 is shown to include various circuits for completing theactivities described herein. More particularly, the memory 203 includesa trim parameter circuit 204, a vehicle duty cycle circuit 205, and anoperator interface circuit 206. The circuits 204-206 may be structuredto determine one or more duty cycles for the vehicle 100, identify adesired duty cycle from a population of duty cycles stored by thevehicle tracking and analytics center 60, and selectively adjust one ormore trim parameters for the vehicle 100 to coincide or substantiallycoincide with the trim parameters of the identified desired duty cycle.In one embodiment, the desired duty cycle may be based on a predefineddesired operating parameter for the vehicle 100 (e.g., minimize fuelconsumption, etc.). Accordingly and beneficially, the trim parameteradjustment may be based on operating data specific to the vehicle 100 incombination with determined duty cycles for a plurality of vehicles andsubject to a desired operating characteristic of the vehicle 100. Inthis regard and advantageously, an operator may avoid complicatedoptimization processes and the time and cost that may otherwise beneeded to tune one or more trim parameters for the vehicle 100. Whilevarious circuits with particular functionality are shown in FIG. 2 , itshould be understood that the controller 150 and memory 203 may includeany number of circuits for completing the functions described herein.For example, the activities of multiple circuits may be combined as asingle circuit, as additional circuits with additional functionality,etc. Further, it should be understood that the controller 150 mayfurther control other vehicle activity beyond the scope of the presentdisclosure.

It should also be understood that while many of the processes describedherein are in regard to the controller 150 of the vehicle 100, thisillustration is for exemplary purposes only. In other embodiments, theseprocesses (or some of these processes) may be performed by the vehicletracking and analytics center 60. In yet other embodiments, thecontroller 150 may form a part of the telematics unit 130. Thus, manydifferent configurations are possible without departing from the scopeof the present disclosure.

Certain operations of the controller 150 described herein includeoperations to interpret and/or to determine one or more parameters.Interpreting or determining, as utilized herein, includes receivingvalues by any method known in the art, including at least receivingvalues from a datalink or network communication, receiving an electronicsignal (e.g. a voltage, frequency, current, or PWM signal) indicative ofthe value, receiving a computer generated parameter indicative of thevalue, reading the value from a memory location on a non-transientcomputer readable storage medium, receiving the value as a run-timeparameter by any means known in the art, and/or by receiving a value bywhich the interpreted parameter can be calculated, and/or by referencinga default value that is interpreted to be the parameter value.

The operator interface circuit 206 may be structured to facilitate andprovide communications between (i) the controller 150 and an operatorand (ii) the controller 150 and the vehicle tracking and analyticscenter 60. Accordingly, in one embodiment, the operator interfacecircuit 206 may include the operator input/output device 140. In anotherembodiment, the operator interface circuit 206 includes communicationcircuitry for facilitating the exchange of information between thecontroller 150 and the operator input/output device 140. In yet anotherembodiment, the operator interface circuit 206 includes machine-readablemedia and any combination of hardware (e.g., communication circuitry)for facilitating the exchange of information between the controller 150and one or more of the operator input/output device 140 and the vehicletracking and analytics center 60.

Through the operator interface circuit 206, an operator, fleet manager,and/or other responsible party may define a desired operating parameterfor the vehicle 100. As described herein, the “desired operatingparameter” or “desired operating characteristic” of the vehicle 100refers to how an operator (or a fleet manager) would like their vehicle100 to operate. For example, a desired operating parameter may be tominimize fuel consumption. As another example, a desired operatingparameter may be to incrementally improve fuel economy. Incrementalimprovement may refer to a numerical increase (e.g., 8.2miles-per-gallon (MPG) to 8.3 MPG is an incremental increase, etc.), toa predefined percent increase (e.g., one percent, two percent, tenpercent, etc.), or any other metric understood by those of ordinaryskill in the art to represent an incremental increase. In this regard,“incremental increase” may be a momentary occurrence (e.g., less thanthirty seconds, etc.) or be required to exist for a predefined timeperiod or distance (e.g., three minutes, five miles, etc.). As stillanother example, a desired operating parameter may be to improve anacceleration characteristic (i.e., remove or lower various fuelconsumption trim parameters to enable an operator to receive a maximumor near maximum amount of acceleration when desired). As yet anotherexample, a desired operating parameter may be to minimize or reduce aspecific exhaust gas emissions characteristic (e.g., CO, NOx, etc.). Asstill another example, a desired operating parameter may be to reducediesel exhaust fluid dosing in the exhaust aftertreatment system 120.Accordingly, the “desired operating parameter” is meant to be broadlyinterpreted, such that the aforementioned list is not meant to beexhaustive. Further and in some embodiments, more than one “desiredoperating parameter” may be utilized by the vehicle duty cycle circuit205 (described below).

The trim parameter circuit 204 may be structured to receive one or moredefault trim parameters and implement the one or more default trimparameters with the vehicle 100 to control operation of the vehicle 100with respect to the one or more default trim parameters. In oneembodiment, reception of the one or more default trim parameters may bethrough a pre-programmed set of trim parameters based on the vehicularor engine application (e.g., a certain vehicle or engine may comestandard with a certain set of default trim parameters). In anotherembodiment, the one or more default trim parameters may be received froma technician or operator (e.g., during a tune-up for the vehicle 100).As such, in one embodiment, the trim parameter circuit 204 may includecommunication circuitry (e.g., relays, a wire harness, etc.) that mayfacilitate the reception of the default trim parameters. In anotherembodiment, the trim parameter circuit 204 may include a controller,such as microcontroller, associated with a component that the trimparameter may at least partly control (e.g., a cruise controlcontroller). In still another embodiment, the trim parameter circuit 204may include machine-readable media that may be stored in the memory 203and executable by the processor 202 for enabling reception of thedefault trim parameters. In yet another embodiment, the trim parametercircuit 204 may include any combination of communication circuitry andmachine-readable media.

As mentioned above, the trim parameter circuit 204 may receive one ormore trim parameters that control one or more operating points of thevehicle 100. An example of a trim parameter are cruise control upperdroop and lower droop settings (i.e., “droops”). The upper droop settingmay define how much the vehicle 100 is allowed to slow down on an uphillgrade (e.g., X miles-per-hour relative to the defined cruise control setspeed). The lower droop setting may define how much the vehicle 100 isallowed to speed up on a downhill grade (e.g., Y miles-per-hour relativeto the defined cruise control set speed). Another example of a trimparameter is a road speed governor setting (i.e., “RSG”). The road speedgovernor setting defines a maximum road vehicle speed for the vehicle100 (e.g., ninety miles-per-hour, eighty-five miles-per-hour, etc.).Still another example of a trim parameter is an idle shut down speed,which prescribes an allowed time duration for the engine operating in anidle mode before shut-down (e.g., three minutes, five minutes, oneminute, etc.). Yet another example of a trim parameter is a vehicleacceleration management setting (i.e., “VAM” setting). The vehicleacceleration management setting may define a maximum acceleration rateof the vehicle. For example, during heavy load situations, the vehicleacceleration management setting may not be triggered. However, duringlight load situations, the vehicle acceleration management may restraina maximum acceleration of the vehicle to mimic the acceleration of thevehicle as if the vehicle were in a heavy load situation in order toreduce fuel consumption. Still another example of a trim parameter is agear down protection parameter setting (i.e., “GDP” setting). The geardown protection parameter setting may define a vehicle speed limit fortransmission settings a predefined amount below a top transmissionsetting (e.g., two settings below the top setting, three settings belowthe top setting, etc.). By limiting the maximum vehicle speed in thetransmission settings below a top setting, operators are encouraged toupshift, which may be beneficial due to the fuel economy savings in atop transmission setting versus a lower setting. However, and asdescribed herein, the maximum vehicle speed allowed in the lowertransmission setting may not be tailored or customized to the operatorand vehicle 100, such that adjusting this setting may improve fueleconomy of the vehicle. Yet another example of a trim parameter is aload based speed control setting (i.e., “LBSC” parameter setting). Theload based speed control parameter setting may define a speed range(e.g., revolutions-per-minute (RPM), etc.) of the engine 101 in thelower transmission settings to meet or substantially meet the vehiclespeed limits defined by the gear down protection parameter setting. Inthis regard, the load based speed control setting may be related to thegear down protection parameter setting.

It should be understood that the aforementioned list of trim parametersis not exhaustive, such that the present disclosure contemplatesadditional trim parameters that may also be applicable with the presentdisclosure.

While the default settings for the aforementioned trim parameters may atleast partly improve performance of the vehicle 100, such as reduce fuelconsumption, the default trim parameters are unrelated to how thevehicle 100 is operated by the particular operator or driver. Furtherand in this regard, a default trim parameter may not necessarily meetthe desired operational characteristics of the operator. As explainedherein below, the vehicle duty cycle circuit 205 may be structured tomeet these objectives.

The vehicle duty cycle circuit 205 may be communicably coupled to eachof the trim parameter circuit 204 and the operator interface circuit206, and may be structured to identify or determine one or more dutycycles for the vehicle 100. To determine the one or more duty cycles ofthe vehicle 100, the vehicle duty cycle circuit 205 may receive orinterpret operation data 210 regarding the vehicle 100 or a componentthereof. As such, in one embodiment, the vehicle duty cycle circuit 205may include one or more sensors (e.g., an engine speed sensor, an enginetorque sensor, a NOx sensor, a particulate matter sensor, etc.) foracquiring and receiving the operation data 210. In another embodiment,the vehicle duty cycle circuit 205 may include communication circuitry(e.g., a wire harness, relays, etc.) that facilitates the exchange ofinformation to receive the operation data 210 (and the data from thevehicle tracking and analytics center 60). In yet another embodiment,the vehicle duty cycle circuit 205 may include any combination ofhardware (e.g., sensors and communication circuitry) andmachine-readable media for performing the processes described herein.

As mentioned above, the vehicle duty cycle circuit 205 may interpretoperation data 210 regarding operation of the vehicle 100 or a componentthereof. The operation data 210 may include or provide an indication ofany of the following: a vehicle speed, a current transmissiongear/setting, a load on the vehicle/engine, a throttle position, a setcruise control speed, data relating to the exhaust aftertreatment system120 (e.g., output power, engine speed, fluid consumption rate (e.g., NOxemissions, particulate matter emissions, and conversion efficiency ofone or more catalysts in the system 120 (e.g., the selective catalyticreduction catalyst), etc.), fuel consumption rate, a diesel exhaustfluid consumption rate, any received engine/vehicle faults (e.g., afault code indicating a low amount of diesel exhaust fluid), engineoperating characteristics (e.g., whether all the cylinders are activatedor which cylinders are deactivated, etc.), etc.

Based on the operation data 210, the vehicle duty cycle circuit 205 maydetermine a duty cycle for the vehicle 100. Beneficially, the determinedduty cycle(s) is specific to the specific operating characteristics ofthe vehicle 100. As mentioned above, the “duty cycle” refers to arepeatable set of vehicle operations for a particular event or for apredefined time period. While many example formulas, algorithms,processes, and the like may be used to determine a duty cycle for thevehicle 100, an example set of processes is shown herein below anddescribed in the paper entitled Parametric Modelling of EnergyConsumption in Road Vehicles by A. Simpson (2005), which is incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety:

$\begin{matrix}{\overset{\sim}{a} = \frac{\left( {\sum_{j = 1}^{N - 1}{{positive}\left( {{\frac{1}{2}\left( {v_{j + 1}^{2} - v_{j}^{2}} \right)} + {g\left( {h_{j + 1} - h_{j}} \right)}} \right)}} \right.}{D}} & (1)\end{matrix}$ $\begin{matrix}{v_{aero}^{2} = \frac{\sum_{j = 1}^{N - 1}{\overset{\_}{v_{J,{J + 1}}^{3}}*\Delta t_{j,{j + 1}}}}{D}} & (2)\end{matrix}$With reference to Equations (1) and (2), Equation (1) represents theacceleration characteristic, ã, of the duty cycle while Equation (2)represents the aerodynamic speed, ν_(aero) ², of the duty cycle. Forreference, the variables used in equations (1) and (2) are defined asfollows:

-   -   ν=vehicle speed;    -   t=time;    -   g=acceleration due to gravity;    -   j=sample time step; and    -   D=distance.

As such, the determined duty cycle is at least partly based on a timevariant, which may be predefined, and a distance variant, which also maybe predefined. Further and as shown, the duty cycle is two-dimensional,which may (i) facilitate relatively fast determinations and (ii) providea relatively easy method for plotting/making determinations. It shouldbe understood that the aforementioned process for determining a vehicleduty cycle is not meant to be limiting. The present disclosurecontemplates other and additional processes that may be used todetermine vehicle duty cycle, without departing from the scope of thepresent disclosure.

In this regard and referring now to FIG. 3 , a plot of duty cycles for avariety of vehicles is shown, according to one embodiment. As shown ingraph 300, the acceleration characteristic may be the Y-Axis and berepresentative or indicative of a frequency of stop and go events, anamount of vehicle acceleration/deceleration, and vehicle hill climbingor descending (i.e., a potential energy variation). As also shown ingraph 300, the aerodynamic speed may be the X-Axis and may berepresentative or indicative of an aerodynamic resistance to the vehicle100 by either vehicle speed per se and/or an effect of wind resistanceon the vehicle 100. Advantageously and as shown, the determined dutycycles may differ based on the type of vehicle (e.g., refuse truckversus light duty cycle mine truck). Each determined duty cycle may beprovided to the vehicle tracking and analytics center 60 for storing theplurality of vehicle duty cycles in the vehicle duty cycle database 63.In this regard, graph 300 may represent a population of vehicle dutycycles 220.

Based on the foregoing, the vehicle duty cycle circuit 205 may identifymultiple duty cycles for the vehicle 100. Such a determination may bebased on at least one of setting the time constant to a predefinedamount (e.g., one minute, etc.) and/or the distance constant to apredefined amount (e.g., five miles, etc.). Beneficially, by utilizingmultiple duty cycles to characterize operation of the vehicle 100,optimization or improvement of one or more trim parameters may beapplied on a relatively piecemeal basis to better capture theoperational characteristics of the vehicle 100 (rather than on anoverall basis, which may beneficially improve some operationalcharacteristics, but may not be as tailored or granular than if appliedover multiple duty cycles). Of course, in other embodiments, only one ora limited number of duty cycles may be utilized by the vehicle dutycycle circuit 205.

In one embodiment, each data point (i.e., the X-Axis and Y-Axiscomponents described above using equations (1) and (2)) may represent asingle duty cycle. In another embodiment, the vehicle duty cycle circuit205 may clump, cluster, or otherwise group two or more data points intoregions, sectors, or groupings to form a “representative vehicle dutycycle.” In this regard, each group or cluster may represent a singlevehicle duty cycle. Beneficially and to facilitate quick processing, thegrouping process may be used by the vehicle duty cycle circuit 205.

Referring now to FIG. 4 , a graph of representative duty cycles isdepicted, according to an example embodiment. In this regard, graph 400follows the aforementioned description where a vehicle duty cycle mayrepresent multiple data points and, as such, may be “representative.” Asshown, the vehicle duty cycle circuit 205 identified nine (9) dutycycles for a plurality of different vehicles, where each of the nineduty cycles represents a cluster of single duty cycle data points. Inthis example, the vehicle duty cycle circuit 205 utilized a hierarchicalclustering analysis process to determine the set of nine vehicle dutycycles. In this regard, the vehicle duty cycle circuit 205 may defineone or more boundaries for the received data and sample the receivedvehicle duty cycle data at a constant frequency for a predefined periodof time to identify the one or more vehicle duty cycles. In otherembodiments, any other process may be utilized to clump or cluster datapoints to generate one or more representative vehicle duty cycles. Thus,in other instances and based on at least one of the population as wellas the clustering analysis used, more or less than nine representativeduty cycles may be determined by the vehicle duty cycle circuit 205.

It should be understood that the clustering to form or determinerepresentative duty cycles may be applied or used by the controller 150and/or by the vehicle tracking and analytics center 60. For example,representative duty cycles may be used by the controller 150 to simplifyor reduce the number of trim parameters that may be adjusted. Incomparison, representative duty cycles may be used by the vehicletracking and analytics center 60 to reduce the computationalrequirements for comparing the determined vehicle duty cycle (or arepresentative vehicle duty cycle) to representative duty cycles for thepopulation 220. Thus, in one embodiment, the comparison (describedbelow) may be implemented on a one-to-one basis: one determined vehicleduty cycle may be compared to each one of a plurality of vehicle dutycycles. In another embodiment, the comparison and identification processmay be performed utilizing a grouping process to facilitate relativelyfaster determinations: compare a determined individual or representativevehicle duty cycle to the population of representative vehicle dutycycles. Thus, both iterations and variations thereof are intended tofall within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

After a determination of the duty cycle(s) for the vehicle 100, thevehicle duty cycle circuit 205 may be structured to compare thedetermined vehicle duty cycle(s) to a population of vehicle duty cycles220. In this regard, the vehicle duty cycle circuit 205 may provide arequest to the vehicle tracking and analytics center 60 and in responseto the request being approved, the vehicle tracking and analytics center60 may provide the population of vehicle duty cycles 220. In anotherembodiment, the population of vehicle duty cycles 220 may be stored orpre-programmed into the vehicle duty cycle circuit 205. This initialstorage may be periodically updated to reflect new additions to thevehicle duty cycle database 63. Beneficially, this embodiment may beadvantageous for quickly accessing the population of vehicle duty cycles220 when network 51 access may be difficult.

In this regard and as alluded to above, the population of vehicle dutycycles 220 may include individual duty cycles for a plurality ofvehicles and any information associated therewith (e.g., trim parameters222, the effect of the duty cycle on various operating parameters, suchas fuel economy, and the like). In some instances, the population ofvehicle duty cycles 220 may be transformed into representative dutycycles to reduce bandwidth characteristics and facilitate relativelyfast determinations.

Responsive to the comparison, the vehicle duty cycle circuit 205 mayidentify a desired vehicle duty cycle from the population of vehicleduty cycles 220 for each of the one or more determined vehicle dutycycles based on a desired operating parameter of the vehicle. Asmentioned above, the “desired operating parameter” or “desired operatingcharacteristic” of the vehicle 100 refers to how an operator (or a fleetmanager) would like their vehicle 100 to operate. For example, a desiredoperating parameter may be to minimize fuel consumption. As anotherexample, a desired operating parameter may be to improve an accelerationcharacteristic (i.e., remove or lower various fuel consumption trimparameters to enable an operator to receive a maximum or near maximumamount of acceleration when desired).

Comparing the determined vehicle duty cycle to the population of vehicleduty cycles 220 and identifying a desired vehicle duty cycle from thepopulation may be implemented and performed in a variety of manners bythe vehicle duty cycle circuit 205.

In one embodiment, the vehicle duty cycle circuit 205 may apply afiltering process to identify the desired vehicle duty cycle. Thisprocess may follow the one-to-one comparison process alluded to above.For example, from the population 220, the vehicle duty cycle circuit 205may filter out or remove all vehicle duty cycle circuits that are notbased on a similar vehicle (e.g., remove all stored vehicle duty cyclesfor refuse trucks when the vehicle 100 is a light-duty truck) or asimilar component thereof (e.g., remove all stored vehicle duty cyclesthat have different types of engines than the engine 101). Subsequently,the vehicle duty cycle circuit 205 may isolate or otherwise identify theremaining vehicle duty cycles associated with the desired operatingparameter (e.g., fuel consumption below are predefined standard). Thevehicle duty cycle circuit 205 may then select the vehicle duty cyclethat corresponds or appears to most correspond with the desiredoperating parameter subject to that duty cycle being within a predefinedamount of the determined vehicle duty cycle (i.e., such that the twovehicle duty cycles correspond with a similar application (e.g., anuphill excursion)). In this regard, the “predefined amount” may mean anyvalue that provides an indication of similar vehicle duty cycles.Accordingly, the “predefined amount” may take the form of an absolutevalue or any other metric that would be understood by those of skill inthe art to be substantially close to the determined vehicle duty cycle.

In another embodiment, the vehicle duty cycle circuit 205 may utilize arelatively more streamlined process that is illustrated graphically inregard to FIGS. 5 and 6 to identify a desired vehicle duty cyclecircuit. This process may be analogous or similar to the groupingprocess alluded to above. In this example, identification of the desiredvehicle duty cycle circuit includes classification or categorization ofthe determined vehicle duty cycle or representative vehicle duty cycleto determine which trim parameters should or may potentially beadjusted. In the example of FIGS. 5 and 6 , the desired operatingparameter is to minimize fuel consumption. Graph 500 depicts a pluralityof vehicle duty cycles, according to an example embodiment. Based on theexperimental data, Applicant has determined areas of the two-dimensionalgraph indicative of vehicle duty cycles (using the X-Axis and Y-Axisdata points) that may most affect fuel economy. As such, upondetermination of an individual vehicle duty cycle or a representativevehicle duty cycle, this data may be compared to each region todetermine where (i) the determined data is classified and, in response,(ii) what trim parameter settings may need to be adjusted.

In particular and as shown, graph 600 depicts the trim parameters thataffect or most affect fuel consumption in each of the quadrants 601,602, 603, and 604 for the plurality of vehicle duty cycles depicted ingraph 500. In this regard, Applicant has determined the trim parametersthat may mostly affect fuel consumption for duty cycles in orsubstantially in each of the depicted quadrants of graph 600. Inparticular, Applicant has determined that in quadrant 601 (highacceleration characteristic and high aerodynamic speed), the trimparameters that are most important to fuel economy are the cruisecontrol setting, the road speed governor parameter setting, the cruisecontrol droop parameter setting (i.e., upper/lower droop setting), andthe vehicle acceleration management parameter setting. In quadrant 602(high acceleration characteristic and low aerodynamic speed), Applicanthas determined that the trim parameter that is most important to fueleconomy is the vehicle acceleration management parameter setting. Inquadrant 603 (low acceleration characteristic and low aerodynamicspeed), Applicant has determined that the trim parameter that is mostimportant to fuel economy is the load based speed control parametersetting. In quadrant 604 (low acceleration characteristic and highaerodynamic speed), Applicant has determined that the trim parametersthat are most important to fuel economy are the cruise control parametersetting, the road speed governor parameter setting, and the gear downprotection parameter setting. In this regard, modification or adjustmentof these parameters (for the duty cycles that may be classified intothese quadrants) may help to improve fuel economy for the vehicle 100.

It should be understood that in other embodiments, other trim parametersmay be important. Further and as described above, “most important” isbased on experimental evidence. In this regard, other parameters mayalso be important or affect fuel consumption; however, theaforementioned identified parameters may have a relatively greateraffect. Of course, in other embodiments, for different vehicles, theidentified important or most important parameters may vary greatly.Further, for different desired operating parameters, the identifiedimportant or most important parameters may also vary greatly. Thus,FIGS. 5 and 6 are not meant to be limiting. Moreover, in otherembodiments, more or less than four quadrants or regions may beutilized.

Responsive to identification of a desired duty cycle from the populationof duty cycles 220, the vehicle duty cycle circuit 205 may provide arequest to the vehicle tracking and analytics center 60 to receive a setof trim parameters 222 associated with the identified desired dutycycle. Such a process follows the one-to-one comparison processdescribed herein. At which point, the vehicle duty cycle circuit 205 mayapply the received set of trim parameters with the vehicle 100. In someinstances, the received set of trim parameters may be provided to theoperator interface circuit 206 to enable an operator to selectivelyapply one or more of the received trim parameters with the vehicle 100.

In another embodiment and in accord with FIGS. 5 and 6 , afterdetermination of the vehicle duty cycle, the vehicle duty cycle circuit205 may plot the vehicle duty cycle to determine which quadrant orsector associated with the vehicle duty cycle. The vehicle duty cyclecircuit 205 may then readily identify which trim parameter(s) may needto be adjusted to improve or obtain a desired operating parameter. Inthis regard, the vehicle tracking and analytics center 60 may provide agraph (or look-up table, or model, or other representative of the graph600), like the graph 600 to the controller 150, such that the vehicleduty cycle circuit 205 may readily reference that information todetermine which trim parameter(s) should be or should not be adjusted.In some instances, ideal trim parameter settings (e.g., values) may beassociated with each quadrant or sector. The ideal trim parametersetting may be an average, a median, or other representative value ofthe quadrant. Accordingly, upon classification of a vehicle duty cycleinto the quadrant or sector, the vehicle duty cycle circuit 205 mayreadily identify the ideal trim parameter settings and compare those tothe current trim parameter settings to determine which trim parametersettings may be or should be adjusted.

In either embodiment, after selective application of the trimparameters, the operator may realize an improvement of performance ofthe vehicle 100 in accordance with their identified desired operatingparameter. Beneficially, such improvement may be made without having totake the vehicle 100 to a technician and based on their individualdriving characteristics. Accordingly, the operator may realizetime-savings, cost-savings, and operational improvement.

In certain embodiments, an affirmative response may be required from theoperator prior to implementing the received trim parameters with thevehicle 100. In this regard, the operator may be the final decisionmaker. This may be beneficial for operators who desire to haverelatively significant amounts of control over their vehicle 100.

Referring now to FIG. 7 , a flow diagram of a method of adjusting one ormore trim parameters of a vehicle is shown, according to one embodiment.Because method 700 may be implemented with the controller 150 and in thesystem 50, reference may be made to one or more features of thecontroller 150 and the system 50 to explain method 700.

At process 701, operation data regarding operation of a vehicle isreceived. The operation data may be indicative of how the vehicle isoperated and, as such, may include the operation data 210. In thisregard, the operation data may include, but is not limited to, data,values, information, and the like indicative of an engine speed, avehicle speed, an engine torque, a fueling characteristic (e.g., amount,rate, etc.), an emissions characteristic (e.g., NOx emissions), whetherany fault codes have been triggered, a tire pressure, an oiltemperature, an oil pressure, a load on the vehicle, and the like. Theoperation data may be received by or acquired by the vehicle duty cyclecircuit 205.

At process 702, one or more vehicle duty cycles are determined based onthe operation data. In one embodiment, the vehicle duty cycle may bedetermined using Equation (1) and Equation (2), as shown and describedherein above. Beneficially, using two equations may facilitaterelatively fast determinations. The vehicle duty cycle determinationsmay occur periodically. In one embodiment, a vehicle duty cycle isdetermined daily based on the operation data acquired for that day. Inanother embodiment, the vehicle duty cycle is determined at a differenttime duration (e.g., half a day, weekly, etc.).

At process 703, the determined one or more vehicle duty cycles arecompared to a population of vehicle duty cycles. In one embodiment,process 703 may be performed at the vehicle tracking and analyticscenter 60 by providing the one or more determined vehicle duty cyclesfrom the controller 150 to the vehicle tracking and analytics center 60.In another embodiment, process 703 may be performed by the controller150 itself. In this embodiment, the controller 150 may either store apopulation of vehicle duty cycles or selectively receive the populationof vehicle duty cycles. For example, the controller 150 may provide anindication of the type of engine or vehicle associated with thecontroller 150 and then only receive a population of vehicle duty cyclesthat have that same or similar feature.

At process 704, a desired vehicle duty cycle for each of the one or moreidentified vehicle duty cycles is identified based on a desiredoperating parameter. As mentioned above, the desired operating parametermay refer to a desired operating characteristic of the vehicle, such asto incrementally improve fuel economy (e.g., obtain a one percentincrease, etc.).

In one embodiment, the vehicle duty cycle circuit 205 may receive thepopulation of vehicle duty cycles and apply a filtering process, likedescribed above, to identify the vehicle duty cycles that aresubstantially close to the determined one or more vehicle duty cycles.The vehicle duty cycle circuit 205 may then receive the trim parametersfor those vehicle duty cycles identified from the population (process705) (i.e., the one-to-one process).

In another embodiment, the vehicle duty cycle circuit 205 may plot,graph, or otherwise categorize the determined vehicle duty cycles on agraph, like graph 600, and then determine how the trim parameters shouldbe adjusted relative to defined “important” trim parameters (i.e., thegrouping or clustering process). It should be understood, that the graphmay be implemented as a look-up table or in any other format thatfacilitates quick or relatively quick retrieval and usage. Thisembodiment may be beneficial for quickly determining the relevant trimparameters for the specific vehicle that should be adjusted or may needto be adjusted.

In either of the two aforementioned embodiments, each generated vehicleduty cycle may be used or a representative duty cycle based on multiplegenerated vehicle duty cycles (see FIG. 4 ) may be used in processes 703and 704.

At process 705, a set of trim parameters associated with each desiredvehicle duty cycle is received. In this regard, the vehicle tracking andanalytics center 60 may store or hold trim parameters associated witheach duty cycle stored. In another embodiment, the vehicle duty cyclecircuit 205 may utilize quadrants, like described above, where eachquadrant (or section, region, area, etc.) may be associated with one ormore trim parameter settings. In this regard, multiple models (e.g.,graphs, look-up tables, etc.) may be used for each predefined desiredoperating parameter. This embodiment may be beneficial due to generatingthe trim parameters relatively quickly.

At process 706, the received trim parameters are applied with thevehicle. In one embodiment, all of the received trim parameters areapplied with the vehicle. In another embodiment, less than all of thetrim parameters may be applied with the vehicle. For example, during thecomparison process, the vehicle duty cycle circuit 205 may determinewhich, if any, of the current trim parameters differ from the receivedtrim parameters and adjust the trim parameters that differ.

The applied trim parameters may then at least partly control operationof the vehicle 100. For example, application of the trim parameters maydefine cruise droop settings for the vehicle (upper droop or lowerdroop). In another example, application of the trim parameters maydefine a road speed governor limit. Thus, application of the trimparameters may control the vehicle.

It should be understood that no claim element herein is to be construedunder the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112(f), unless the element isexpressly recited using the phrase “means for.” The schematic flow chartdiagrams and method schematic diagrams described above are generally setforth as logical flow chart diagrams. As such, the depicted order andlabeled steps are indicative of representative embodiments. Other steps,orderings and methods may be conceived that are equivalent in function,logic, or effect to one or more steps, or portions thereof, of themethods illustrated in the schematic diagrams. Further, referencethroughout this specification to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, “anexample embodiment”, or similar language means that a particularfeature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with theembodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the presentinvention. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment”, “in anembodiment”, “in an example embodiment”, and similar language throughoutthis specification may, but do not necessarily, all refer to the sameembodiment.

Additionally, the format and symbols employed are provided to explainthe logical steps of the schematic diagrams and are understood not tolimit the scope of the methods illustrated by the diagrams. Althoughvarious arrow types and line types may be employed in the schematicdiagrams, they are understood not to limit the scope of thecorresponding methods. Indeed, some arrows or other connectors may beused to indicate only the logical flow of a method. For instance, anarrow may indicate a waiting or monitoring period of unspecifiedduration between enumerated steps of a depicted method. Additionally,the order in which a particular method occurs may or may not strictlyadhere to the order of the corresponding steps shown. It will also benoted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart diagrams,and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchartdiagrams, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systemsthat perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of specialpurpose hardware and program code.

Many of the functional units described in this specification have beenlabeled as circuits, in order to more particularly emphasize theirimplementation independence. For example, a circuit may be implementedas a hardware circuit comprising custom very-large-scale integration(VLSI) circuits or gate arrays, off-the-shelf semiconductors such aslogic chips, transistors, or other discrete components. A circuit mayalso be implemented in programmable hardware devices such as fieldprogrammable gate arrays, programmable array logic, programmable logicdevices or the like.

As mentioned above, circuits may also be implemented in machine-readablemedium for execution by various types of processors, such as processor202 of FIG. 2 . An identified circuit of executable code may, forinstance, comprise one or more physical or logical blocks of computerinstructions, which may, for instance, be organized as an object,procedure, or function. Nevertheless, the executables of an identifiedcircuit need not be physically located together, but may comprisedisparate instructions stored in different locations which, when joinedlogically together, comprise the circuit and achieve the stated purposefor the circuit. Indeed, a circuit of computer readable program code maybe a single instruction, or many instructions, and may even bedistributed over several different code segments, among differentprograms, and across several memory devices. Similarly, operational datamay be identified and illustrated herein within circuits, and may beembodied in any suitable form and organized within any suitable type ofdata structure. The operational data may be collected as a single dataset, or may be distributed over different locations including overdifferent storage devices, and may exist, at least partially, merely aselectronic signals on a system or network.

The computer readable medium (also referred to herein asmachine-readable media or machine-readable content) may be a tangiblecomputer readable storage medium storing the computer readable programcode. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but notlimited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared,holographic, micromechanical, or semiconductor system, apparatus, ordevice, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. As alluded toabove, examples of the computer readable storage medium may include butare not limited to a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a randomaccess memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmableread-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a portable compact discread-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disc (DVD), an opticalstorage device, a magnetic storage device, a holographic storage medium,a micromechanical storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storagemedium may be any tangible medium that can contain, and/or storecomputer readable program code for use by and/or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

The computer readable medium may also be a computer readable signalmedium. A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated datasignal with computer readable program code embodied therein, forexample, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagatedsignal may take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limitedto, electrical, electro-magnetic, magnetic, optical, or any suitablecombination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be anycomputer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage mediumand that can communicate, propagate, or transport computer readableprogram code for use by or in connection with an instruction executionsystem, apparatus, or device. As also alluded to above, computerreadable program code embodied on a computer readable signal medium maybe transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limitedto wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, Radio Frequency (RF), or thelike, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In one embodiment,the computer readable medium may comprise a combination of one or morecomputer readable storage mediums and one or more computer readablesignal mediums. For example, computer readable program code may be bothpropagated as an electro-magnetic signal through a fiber optic cable forexecution by a processor and stored on RAM storage device for executionby the processor.

Computer readable program code for carrying out operations for aspectsof the present invention may be written in any combination of one ormore programming languages, including an object oriented programminglanguage such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventionalprocedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming languageor similar programming languages. The computer readable program code mayexecute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer,as a stand-alone computer-readable package, partly on the user'scomputer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remotecomputer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may beconnected to the user's computer through any type of network, includinga local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or theconnection may be made to an external computer (for example, through theInternet using an Internet Service Provider).

The program code may also be stored in a computer readable medium thatcan direct a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, orother devices to function in a particular manner, such that theinstructions stored in the computer readable medium produce an articleof manufacture including instructions which implement the function/actspecified in the schematic flowchart diagrams and/or schematic blockdiagrams block or blocks.

Accordingly, the present disclosure may be embodied in other specificforms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics.The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only asillustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the disclosure is,therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoingdescription. All changes which come within the meaning and range ofequivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus, comprising: a trim parametercircuit structured to receive a set of default trim parameters that areelectronic operational parameters that control one or more operatingpoints of a vehicle component or system; and a vehicle duty cyclecircuit coupled to the trim parameter circuit, the vehicle duty circuitstructured to: receive operation data indicative of a duty cycle for thevehicle, wherein the duty cycle is a substantially repeatable set ofvehicle or vehicle component operations for a particular event or for apredefined time period; identify a desired vehicle duty cycle from apopulation of vehicle duty cycles based on the operation data indicativeof the duty cycle for the vehicle and on a desired operating parameterof the vehicle; receive a set of trim parameters associated with thedesired vehicle duty cycle; and control the one or more operating pointsof the vehicle component or system in accordance with the set of trimparameters.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the operation dataindicative of the duty cycle for the vehicle includes an accelerationcharacteristic of the vehicle or an aerodynamic speed of the vehicle. 3.The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an operator interfacecircuit structured to provide the set of trim parameters to an operatorinput/output device of the vehicle and responsive to receiving anaffirmative implementation instruction from the operator input/outputdevice, instruct the vehicle duty circuit to apply the set of trimparameters with the vehicle.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein thevehicle duty cycle circuit is further structured to apply one or moreboundaries for the received operation data and sample the receivedoperation data at a predefined frequency for a predefined period of timeto determine a vehicle duty cycle for the vehicle.
 5. The apparatus ofclaim 4, wherein the vehicle duty cycle circuit is structured to use ahierarchical clustering process to define the one or more boundaries andto sample the received operation data to determine the vehicle dutycycle.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the desired operatingparameter is to minimize fuel consumption for the vehicle.
 7. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the desired operating parameter is toincrementally improve fuel economy for the vehicle.
 8. A method,comprising: receiving, by a controller of a vehicle, operation dataindicative of a duty cycle for the vehicle, wherein the duty cycle is asubstantially repeatable set of vehicle or vehicle component operationsfor a particular event or for a predefined time period; identifying, bythe controller, a desired vehicle duty cycle from a population ofvehicle duty cycles based on the operation data indicative of the dutycycle for the vehicle and on a desired operating parameter of thevehicle; receiving, by the controller, a set of trim parameters that areelectronic operational parameters associated with the desired vehicleduty cycle; and controlling, by the controller, one or more operatingpoints of the vehicle based on the set of trim parameters.
 9. The methodof claim 8, further comprising receiving, by the controller, additionaldata indicative of another duty cycle for the vehicle and determining adifferent vehicle duty cycle based on the additional data.
 10. Themethod of claim 8, wherein the operation data indicative of the dutycycle for the vehicle includes an acceleration characteristic of thevehicle or an aerodynamic speed of the vehicle.
 11. The method of claim8, further comprising: providing, by the controller, the set of trimparameters to an operator input/output device of the vehicle; andapplying, by the controller, the set of trim parameters with the vehiclein response to receiving an affirmative implementation instruction fromthe operator input/output device.
 12. The method of claim 8, furthercomprising: applying, by the controller, one or more boundaries for thereceived operation data to sample the received operation data at apredefined frequency for a predefined period of time to determine avehicle duty cycle.
 13. The method of claim 12, further comprisingusing, by the controller, a hierarchical clustering process to definethe one or more boundaries and to sample the received operation data todetermine the vehicle duty cycle.
 14. The method of claim 8, wherein thedesired operating parameter is at least one of minimizing fuelconsumption for the vehicle or incrementally improving fuel economy forthe vehicle.
 15. A system, comprising: a controller coupled to anengine, the controller comprising a processor coupled to anon-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, whenexecuted by the processor, cause the controller to: receive operationdata indicative of a duty cycle for a vehicle, wherein the duty cycle isa substantially repeatable set of vehicle or vehicle componentoperations for a particular event or for a predefined time period;identify a desired vehicle duty cycle from the population of vehicleduty cycles based on the received operation data indicative of the dutycycle for the vehicle and on a desired operating parameter of thevehicle; receive a set of trim parameters that are electronicoperational parameters associated with the desired vehicle duty cycle;and control one or more operating points of the vehicle based on the setof trim parameters.
 16. The system of claim 15, wherein the operationdata indicative of the duty cycle for the vehicle includes anacceleration characteristic of the vehicle or an aerodynamic speed ofthe vehicle.
 17. The system of claim 15, wherein the instructions, whenexecuted by the processor, further cause the controller to: apply one ormore boundaries for the received operation data and sample the receivedoperation data at a constant frequency for a predefined period of timeto determine the vehicle duty cycle using a hierarchical clusteringprocess to define the one or more boundaries and to sample the receivedoperation data to determine the vehicle duty cycle.
 18. The system ofclaim 15, wherein the desired operating parameter is at least one ofminimizing fuel consumption for the vehicle or incrementally improvingfuel economy for the vehicle.
 19. The system of claim 15, wherein theinstructions, when executed by the processor, further cause thecontroller to: communicate with a remote vehicle tracking and analyticscenter to receive at least one of the set of trim parameters or thepopulation of vehicle duty cycles.
 20. The system of claim 19, whereinthe population of vehicle duty cycles received only pertains to thevehicle duty cycle for the vehicle.